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If I Told You

Summary:

Dancing with the person you're pinning over never goes wrong!... right? Either way, Cater is determined to keep his feelings a secret.

Notes:

Beta read by my friends in a group chat, love y'all. Also, sporadic updates.

Work Text:

Night Raven College enforced a dance unit ever year, in order to keep the traditions of old alive. The units were at different times of year for each grade, and when it was held, the whole grade was put in the gym at once, that way you could dance with any friends you had. That was the problem. Trey and Cater had danced together during this event for every year, it had become their own tradition!... that was before Cater realized how he felt. But now! Now... it was expected. How could he dance with him when even talking to Trey made his breath hitch! He shook his head to clear his thoughts, the thinking could wait. Cater opened the gym door, immediately anxious with the amount of people, many of which he knew, they swarmed him immediately, which didn't help it. It made it worse actually, and his breath slowly got heavier. "Cater! How you doing?"
"Cater? What took you so long?"
"Cater!"
"Cater!"
"CATER"
He was suddenly pulled away from the crowd, a firm hand gently encasing his own. He was pulled into a place without anyone there and handed a bottle of water. He gladly accepted it, calming down a bit as he took a swig, finally looking at his savior. His heart skipped a beat. "Thanks Trey. I needed that." Trey's face softened with worry. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you need anything else?"
"No. I just- need to calm down a bit..." trey nodded and grabbed his hand again, still with a gentle touch, as if Cater would break with to much pressure. Trey just stood there with him, holding his hand and staring at him, probably checking to make sure Cater was calm. Cater nodded softly once he had calmed down, a simple gesture to let Trey know that he was okay now, but the smile he received... it was like he had given Trey a puppy on Christmas, full of happiness and- love... yeah. No. Now he was just reading into things. It made his heart skip a beat though, even if it was just the smile Trey gave everyone to reassure them. As Cater retreated back into his thoughts he missed the concerned look that Trey shot him, only coming back to reality once Trey started rubbing little circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. A gentle, fleeting touch that automatically stopped his breathing. "Are you with us now Cater?" Cater nodded again, not trusting his voice right now, and Trey pulled away. Cater immediately missed the touch, silently mourning the loss, but shook himself out of his thought again. "Sorry, I've... had a week." Was his response, voice cracking slightly. Trey smiled again. That damn smile. "You know where to find me, if you ever need to talk." The bell rung, signaling the end of lunch, and the passing period."yeah- I'll keep that in mind" Cater said quietly, as he walked over to where he was supposed to be. 'How did we even get here?' He meant in this situation of course, not in the gym. He sighed, not wanting to think for a bit, pulling out his phone and opening it, taking a picture and putting it on His magicam story with the caption 'dance class for juniors! #dance #school' he smiled, it was perfect. No one would know how freaked out he was before class started... Cater sighed softly and put his phone away. He knew it wasn't good, he had no illusions about that fact. He knew he should express his emotions, but it was-... hard for him to do so. After all, so many people had real problems! It just would just be a waste of other people's time. He didn't want to be a burden. The teacher clapped, snapping the class to attention. "Alright, I have been informed that junior year does ballroom dancing for their dance unit. Is that correct?" A few nervous people nodded, and the others eyes widened at the news. Ballroom dancing? But it's so- touchy- and close... everyone e seemed to agree that it would be awkward, and Trey cast an unreadable look at Cater, who chuckled anxiously and looked anywhere but him in response. It was at this point that the teacher motioned for the class to pair up. Carers heart started racing, he didn't know if it was God torturing him, or if it was a reward for something, though he hadn't done anything worth celebrating recently, so he opted for the torture idea. Trey was getting closer, his damn smile still in place. Cater had no excuse to not dance with him, so when Trey extended his hand out, he took it. His breath caught, and for a moment he allowed himself to wonder. What would happen if I- told him? Instead of his usual pessimism, he allowed the other option to play, the one where Trey felt the same. Would he be excited? Maybe stunned? Oh god- maybe... flustered? All of it, the ideas, the potential emotions, all played in His head for a moment before the pessimism set in again, he wouldn't. None of those are viable. Most likely Trey would let him down easy, and after a while things would go back to normal. But if he didn't- if he was disgusted by him... Cater would see him again, sure, bit it would never be the same. Their friendship would crumble. He couldn't let that happen. He WOULDN'T let it happen. It took less then a second, but the decision was made. Trey could never know, for both of their sakes.